Another Year coming to an end

The end of 2011 is coming down the stretch! The kids are looking forward to Christmas, of course. What happened? I laid down to take a nap this summer and the next thing I know, I'm thinking about what we're doing for Christmas and New Year.

The Lord has kept us safe and secure. I don't know how any of you think about things, but prior to now, Pam and I have lived such a tension filled life together, that we actually looked at the possibility of a normal life with apprehension. Over the past12 years we've had a multitude of job gains and losses, and we've lived in 7 different cities in 9 different houses/apartments.

We gained 7 children and 2 grandchildren, and we lost one child. Our children span in ages from 10 to 36. So many different personalities, needs and wants. There are adults, high school, middle school, and elementary school students. We have one graduating this spring and that is weighing on our minds. Mine especially.

The kids at home are all strong and healthy. They are all Christians. It doesn't get any better than that. Now life is school, soccer, laundry and trips to the dentist.

I'm loving it.

Jesus & The Passover

Today, we went to church and there was a guest speaker. I'm terrible with names, so I'm not going to even pretend to remember. He was however a joyous blessing to listen to . He is a Messianic Jew, who is a missionary to Jews (JewsforJesus.org). The subject was the passover meal that Jews celebrate (The Seder), and the meal that Jesus celebrated just before he gave his life for me/us. He told us all the significance of each element of the meal, and all of the actions involved. He had samples of just about everything that would be involved in the meal, as he was explaining it. The neatest part is how he was able to show how things pointed to the Lord Jesus.

For some reason, I always find it a blessing when I meet a practicing Jew and a double blessing when I meet a Messianic Jew. I guess it's a triple blessing when I get to sit and listen to one tell of how the they love the Lord Jesus and how they are being lead to lead other's to His salvation.

It reminds me to pray for salvation for "The Branch" that was taken out so that we could be grafted in.

Echo a prayer for Haiti

In the wake of the devestation in Haiti, sometimes I can only cry in agony and say, "Lord PLEASE, do something!!" There are so many people, with so many needs, for so long. I want to echo this prayer I saw from a friend...

Lord, I just want to say THANK YOU...
Because this morning I woke up and knew where my children were.
Because this morning my home was still standing,
because this morning I am not crying because my husband/wife, my child, my brother or sister needs to be buried out from underneath a pile of concrete,
because this morning I was able to drink a glass of water,
because this morning I was able to turn on the light,
because this morning I was able to take a shower,
because this morning I was not planning a funeral,
but most of all I thank You this morning because I still have life and a voice to cry out for the people of Haiti.

Lord I cry out to You, the one that makes the impossible, possible,
the one that turns darkness into light,

I cry out that You give those mothers strength,
that You give them peace that surpasses all understanding,
that You may open the streets so that help can come,
that You may provide doctors, nurses, food, water, and all that they need in a blink of an eye.

For all those that have lost family members...
give them peace,
give them hope,
give them courage to continue to go on!

Protect the children and shield them with Your power.

I pray all this in the Name of Jesus!!!

To all my email/blog friends please continue to forward this so that we can pray together for the people in Haiti .

We're all doing fine

Our son "C" is doing well. He called me on his way home the other day and was happy to be out and about. His doctors will have to ascertain whether it is best to keep him "in" and work with him or put him before a medical board and perhaps medically retire him. We'll see what the Lord decides.

Thank you all again for all of your prayers.

Our landlord had to pull the carpet out, and Pam talked him into just leaving the old vinyl flooring the way it was. We'd much rather put out area rugs that we could roll up in future flood situations. We finally got the kids computer hooked up and running last night, they missed it terribly. We had moved it out of the family room and didn't have anywhere to set up a temporary station for it.

We lost a lot of momentos in the garage. That was the thing that hurt the most. We've been slow about moving things into the house to hang up, and had much less room to put them around to display...now they're gone. Oh well, on to making more memories!

Report cards came out. We got 2 honor roll kids, and 1 that had all highest marks (too young for honor yet). We have one that's struggling fiercely. The new ones are all progressing well and working hard.

Funny story:
"A", our 8th grade daughter, was in line to get her H1N1 flu shot at school. The person at the desk asked for her name. For most people in 8th grade that's normally not a problem. Well, we changed all of the children's first names when we brought them home. However, we'd been dragging our feet about re-adoptions, so their legal names are still their birth names. They have to remember that when asked. The school uses their legal name. Ok, still not a problem, if you've spent your life spelling your name in English letters...which she hadn't. She hesitated first because she couldn't remember it, then again when she was asked to spell it. She saw the name on the paper and pointed to it and said, "There, that's it." What made it even more difficult for her is that the school had had it misspelled for the first couple of months before we finally got someone to correct it, so she wasn't sure if they had it right or not. Then the lady asked for her birthday! LOL She knows what day her birthday is, but couldn't remember what year it is because she just used to responding with how old she is. LOL (With the Ethiopian calendar being nothing like ours, it makes it hard for her to transition)

By the way, we just finished our re-adoption of our first 3 (L, H, & J) and are waiting for some letter from the Dept of something or other that allows us to get their new birth certificates.

We have to start on our next three. We did the 1st 3 in NC, the next 3 will be in VA. Is there anyone out there who've done re-adoptions in VA by themselves? I found this one web site that tell you how to do it (for Norfolk residents) and I just need a little help in understanding some of the steps and documents.
Thanks
Juan

Home Again, Home Again!

It's finally over - four weeks of training, sitting in a classroom 8 hours a day, trying to pay attention and retain so much information, and tests upon tests. Eating out 3 meals a day for fours weeks is not all what it's cracked up to be. I missed Pam's cooking, with a passion. Thankfully I was able to come home on the weekends; some of the students came from too far away to go home on the weekends.

Richmond VA (Virginia's capital - for the geography challenged among us) is an interesting phenomenon of beautiful buildings and old south charm, but it's downtown area is so many desolate empty buildings lining the streets. There are some whole city blocks of vacant buildings. Thankfully there are a few buildings being remodeled for re-use, but the city doesn't look like what one would imagine a capital city would look like.

I've got a long "honey-do" list to get into. I'm going to have to dig deep to make it up to Pam for being the great lone soldier while I was gone. I was as frugal as I could be in saving my travel per diem up to we could afford to take the kids to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg next month.

School starts a week from Tuesday. The kids are getting anxious to meet new friends and teachers. With 7 kids in 4 different schools, it's going to be a hard and long process to get into a comfortable rhythm.

Whew!

It has been a whirlwind summer so far. I know I have not posted as much as I normally have. There are lots of reasons...Our trip to Africa which just about did my legs in. (I have had horrible leg cramps since then), husband's loss of his job, and my hours at work changing and being cut back. Add to this 3 new little ones - 7 total. That has doubled all my life chores, i.e. laundry and meals - lots of meals!! We had my daughter and her family come with friends in tow.

Then Juan gets a new job and has training out of town - for a month! In the middle of this we moved to a new city, into another home. I had to pack the hold house, and change utilities. I had to do the entire move by myself because Juan doesn't have any vacation time yet. I had to register the kids into 4 new schools, talk with all the guidance counselors, set up ESL, set up testing, take the kids for physicals, and immunisations.

Now this obviously isn't my first adoption, but this adoption just sent me into huge postpartum "baby blues". Who am I kidding; I am (was) flat out depressed. Then, on top of the depression, I was feeling guilty that I was depressed. I was afraid to talk to anyone about it since I'm the one that wanted to adopt - so why would I be depressed? I was also afraid to talk about it because depression is so misunderstood. Well meaning people wanting to to say that it is a spiritual problem. "Just get right with God." I know that I am totally right with God and I'm still depressed! Depression is an illness and it can get better or worse - but it is treatable. I am so thankful that I have a good doctor and I am now being treated. I am also thankful for my closest friends who have been with me through this the whole time. I feel a lot better and I am not crying all day!

Each day I am becoming more and more like my old self. So if I've missed returning any e-mails - email again! I am on the road back!

What I hate about moving

One of the parts I hate about moving is looking for and starting over again in a new church family/group. We pray that the Lord leads us to where He wants us to serve. We try to stay out of the way of His leading, but I'm human... We try not to find a duplicate of the church we had to leave, that's the hardest thing to do. The music and singing worship will be good, but different. The children's church/Sunday school will be good, but different. The small group gatherings will be good, but different. As much change as we've endured over the years, it's still challenging to accept change. It's stressful, it's tiring, it's scary.

We went to Believer's Church today. I'm fairly sure they are a Baptist church without the denominational tagging. The people there were all very friendly and inviting. The music was good, the facilities were very nice. Unfortunately the lead pastor was out for vacation so, we'll go back again when he returns. We realize the pastor is not the church by any means, but we kind of get the jist of where the flock is by getting to know the lead pastor. You know, where is the leader going; how close is he following the LEADER?

We have a couple other churches in the area that were suggested to us, so we'll visit them as well. Please pray that our eyes and ears will be open to the Lords leading. We need a place to serve and a place for our children to grow and be nourished.

One month today!

It has been one month today that we met our babies - the new recruits to the Johnson Clan. WOW! If every month flies this fast, before we have a chance to get to know them they'll be bringing home their babies.

Spending all day, every day with a person, it's amazing how quickly can get to know each other. Now, having a language barrier makes it a little difficult, but that becomes part of the dynamic. We've been able to get around that barrier because Leah has been our resident interpreter. That has been such a HUGE blessing. A large part of the beginning stages of adopting older children from another country is the communication. There's getting them to understand where they are, why they are here, what are our expectations, what are the new rules they live under etc.

Even with Leah, we don't get a lot of communication from their side of the relationship, but they're kids. They're still trying to get through the shock of it all. Well, a trade off for having someone here to interpret everything for us is that children - and probably adults - tend to slow down their language learning process. The boys still have not learned to put any sentences together on their own. We still get one word responses and requests - "TV, toilet, bicycle, play, water, etc." Zoe, on the other hand, is making three and four word sentences, both in responses and requests. Obviously, that has a lot to do with being a girl, and some to do with her character.

Zoe is extremely extroverted. She tends not to want to be by herself. She thrives on being the center of attention, and leans toward being a drama queen. Her expressions are grandiose, and her voice loud and bubbly. When we have our family time at the dinner table, you can see that Zoe is just busting at the seams waiting for her turn to say something. (Waiting your turn is a constant learning subject with all three). She's quick to shed a tear if she feels offended or is hurt while playing, but she will quickly change gears when she sees it's not getting her anywhere. So that tells me she's adaptable. Zoe loves to laugh and will frequently laugh so hard, tears come streaming down her face - it's a delight to see. With so many new big sisters and brothers around, she's learned that she's not the boss anymore, so that's subsided greatly. Her tiny stature sometimes makes me forget that she's eight and not five.

Davis is very quiet, even among his birth siblings. He loves riding his bicycle more than anything else. He has no problem asking for things. Of course, I have no problem saying, no. We're working diligently on getting him to use full sentences - or phrases. Because of his extremely dark complexion, other children teased him a lot so he's a little more sensitive than most. He tends to be a whiner, something we have to work on - we're not family that puts up with whiners and tattle-tails. Davis loves to laugh, and is ultra-ticklish. You even look like you're going to tickle him and he starts shrieking with laughter. He was the first get his medical physical done and he's in very good condition(still waiting on lab results). With only one good pediatrician on this beach, getting an appointment is hard. The funny thing is, Davis is matchstick thin but his weight is "average" on the growth chart. You can count his ribs and the boy's knees are wider than his legs, people! Ethiopians have denser bones and muscle tissue is all I can say. I don't see this as being a life long problem, because this boy can EAT. He'll eat as much as I do, and eats faster than anyone at the table. That is a habit formed in Ethiopia (a long story that we've not quite gotten the grasp of yet)

Justin's extreme shyness is his major character trait. When he does speak (which is very infrequently) you can barely hear him. When he speaks or when we talk to him he looks down at the floor. He's slow to try new things (other than food, he's a good eater). He has a quick and easy smile, that will keep him out of trouble at school. I think he's going to be our atheletic one, and he loves soccer. He's a bit air headed (we say blond) so we're continually having to remind him of the family rules and expectations. He's also a bit clumsy when playing with the little ones, so we have frequently remind him to be careful.

I've started a reading program we found on-line, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons" So far, so good. It's supposed to be able to teach them to read at the 2nd grade level by the time you get to the end. That will be great for Zoe and Davis. Justin will have some major issues, obviously. We are going to have some major education issues with all of them because they can't read, even in their own language. But hey, what good is a roller coaster without a few loopy-loops? Right?

We're ready for the ride of our lives. All hands up! WHOOOOHOOOO!!!

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 5)

While we were out we went to visit a compound for one of the African Widows and Orphans Projects (AWOP). http://www.awop.org/ It's known locally as the Firewood Woments project. The women here make a living weaving long scarves on manually operated looms. We had been blessed to see this place the last time we were here and now they are much bigger and doing more. There were many tiny preschoolers who came out to greet us and each took turns shaking our hands and saying "Hello!"

The women, prior to coming to this place, used to earn money walking miles up the side of the mountains next to Addis, to gather firewood to sell on a daily basis. They would be fortunate to make the equivalent of about $1 a day. They would then have to figure out how to feed their babies and themselves. The project has come from the Lord to give them a way of making a better wage and having a safe place for their babies while they work.

This project now has a little school and few other buildings that we didn't see the last time we were here. The loom frames were made from slender, rough hewed poles. Now they have metal frames. The buildings are still rather dark and arcane, but I'm sure that can be remedied as funds become available. Each of the scarves sold will pay for so much more than the women could ever make selling firewood. It gives them a little more independence and provides a learning place for their little ones. This is Pam's passion - women supporting women - doing for themselves rather than backbracking labor, begging or selling themselves in order to survive.

Many Westerners are reluctant to help other countries when they believe that they are perpetuating a problem. I understand that feeling, I used to feel that way myself. Until the Lord showed me what real need is, what real compassion is and what people will do if given an opportunity to help themselves. This project is one of the best examples of people who are in real need, receiving real compassion and doing something positive about.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 4)

The first night together was quiet. Davis was a restless sleeper, which I'm sure was due to nerves. Zoe was rather restless as well, but it is so cute to watch her wake up. She bends and stretches, moans and hums like an infant. Justin sleeps like a rock.

In the morning, we enjoy cereal and bananas together with the other couple of families here at the guest house. One family is adopting a little 3 year girl who is lively and active. The other family is adopting a 10 month old little girl. We have mothers, fathers, some grandmothers, and kids all together; it was great!

Pam and I take a few hours to go shopping for the kids. Before we leave we have the nanny try to explain to the kids where we're going and we try to assure them of our return. That didn't go over well with Zoe, because she tears up and starts clinging to Mommy. When we get back she's the first one to run to Mommy for a hug. Davis is more of a copy cat than a hugger, but it's all good because he gets hugs whether he understands why or not. Justin comes in for a hug out of politeness; he'll be the one that will take the most work on bonding - or so it seems. Appearances can be deceiving, we found that out through experience.

While we we out we got to know our interpreter, Aki and our driver, Yosef. These are wonderful Christian men who've been working for the guest house for a couple of years. Yosef gave us his testimony. Yosef grew up on the streets and one day was taken in by a Christian group and was sponsored by a Christian family here in the US. He came to know the Lord as a young teen and has been serving Him ever since. In his own words he said that he was "the fruit of my sponsor's labor, and I want to serve him like he served me for so many years." He and his sponsor still communicate and his sponsor even bought him a car.

Yosef's wife currently works with a Christian ministry that helps street people come off the streets. They clothe and feed them, and try to get any young ones back to their families, if possible. They teach them the word of the Lord. If they are unable to go back to their families they try to teach them life skills and independence skills. They even help them start self employment, like selling items in the city. Yosef's dream is to expand on this some where in Addis Ababa. He needs a bit of Bible teaching and leadership training, which is something he's working at now. We are praying that the Lord will guide his path in this. Yosef's heart is so big and tenderhearted for his people, it made us cry to hear his story.

Aki's story was very similar. His beginnings were in the streets, but he was a gang leader that went about robbing and stealing for a living. One day the Lord shown a light into his life that brought him to group of Christians from SIM (Serving in Missions) that lead him to the Lord and he has been serving him ever since. He had a sponsor who helped him get through school and he now works for the guest house. He spends every spare cent (birr) helping a few families with small children in his neighborhood.

It was people like Aki and Yosef that actually helped reassure us that those commercials that you see on TV are real. The children actually do receive this help. They actually live full and blessed lives and are able to carry on the Lords work. So if you have the opportunity to sponsor a child through Compassion International or some agency like that...Do it!! Like that movie "Pay it forward", your blessings will be paid out exponentially.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 3)

When we get the kids back to the guest house, the first order of business is to get them into some better clothes. That was easier said than done because we weren't terribly sure what sizes they were actually wearing. Even though CWA care takers tried to give us measurements, the measurements weren't the same way we do it here. Justin is skinnier and Davis was shorter than we anticipated. Zoe was about where we thought she was. So we had to go do some shopping the next day. Meanwhile we sat around the room and watched them play with toys we'd brought along for them.

It was a delight to listen to them talk among themselves. They are typical kids with animated speech, and they all talk at once. It didn't take us but about 15 minutes to figure out that Zoe was in charge and the boys bowed to her will. She's much more extroverted and has already shown a talented grasp for learning English. (I think it's part being a girl and part being competitive) She and Analyse will be a great deal alike.

When we try to gauge their grasp of English, it is Zoe who tries to answer all the questions, even for the boys. They do have a larger vocabulary than our first three did at the very beginning, so that will help some. Unfortunately, we can tell that their vocabulary is disjointed because the boys can't form sentences with the words they know. Zoe can put two simple words together to form sentences. At one point she holds my face in her hands to get my attention and says, "Daddy toilet". By Wednesday, she was putting several words together as two word sentences to tell me she was looking for a specific toy and believes that we left it upstairs after nap time. After we looked for it for awhile, she told me to forget it and we move on to something else. Amazing!

Lunch and dinner were fairly uneventful. Praise the Lord!! They eat what was put before them without too much of a fuss. Another lesson learned from the first set - eat American food, right away! Davis is our enthusiastic but messy eater, Zoe is the very picky eater, and Justin fits somewhere in middle. We get to introduce them to our family tradition of holding hands while we ask the Lord's blessing; then we rhythmically squeeze hands as we say, "I - Love -You."

The kids play out in the yard with balls that are just laying around. They seem so non-plussed by the whole deal. I wonder if they are really as calm and content as they seem (something we've been praying about ever since the Lord showed them to us to choose). We shall see.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 2)

Monday morning, we were to meet our little ones for the very first time. I'm so nervous, I want to throw up. I want everything to go perfectly and I don't even know what "perfectly" would be. The man from CWA who came to take us to meet them was the same young man that helped us three years ago when we brought home our other three little ones. Our oldest daughter, Leah had had a schoolgirl's crush on Mesfin, and we teased her about him on occasion. Unfortunately for her, he was just about to become engaged. So we caught up on the each other's lives. How the children had grown and how they were doing in school etc. He had graduated from college and was working full time for CWA now.

We arrived at the CWA office, when we drove up close to the building beyond the gate, I could see Zoe peeking around a door. She had that angelic smile (the one that's going to keep me in trouble for sure). When we got out of the van all three children came out and the two younger ones had their arms wide open for a hug. I scooped Zoe up in my arms and just held my baby girl. Her little body is so tiny, but her grip was strong. I smelled her hair, kissed her face, squeezed her some more before I finally set her down to meet her new Mamma. Pam was holding both Justin and Davis. We can see and feel the shyness in Justin. Davis is grinning ear to ear when I pick him up. I can tell he is going to be the family comedian/clown. (He's already fitting in at home with silly antics) Justin tries to be the mature young man and offers me a hand to shake - I grab him up! He'll never be to big to hug. We all exchange more hugs, and close inspections. After a few pictures we go in to fill out a little paper work. Zoe is already aware that she's Daddy's Little Girl, because she comes right over and sits in my lap as I'm sitting down.

Afterward we met with the counselor and nurse who go over their lives a little for us. There was nothing new that hadn't already been relayed to us in the updates sent to us over the past six months or so. Then we were given the opportunity to visit the houses that they had been staying in since coming to Addis Ababa almost 2 months ago. They are basically group homes with care takers watching over them. The boys and girls live in separate houses down the road from each other. The girl's house also has all the babies. I guess there were about 20 or so children in each house ranging from infants to about 12-13years old. Each home is protected within a walled compound. We were able to meet the caretakers; Pam and I conveyed our heartfelt appreciation for all that they have done and are doing for these little one's of God. We're not allowed to take pictures (To protect the privacy of the children). We were able to bring 3, 35gallon tubs full of donated items. There is so much still needed at these homes. Please, if you want to help, give financial donations to CWA.

After a short visit, we head back to the guest house with OUR children!

Our Trip to Ethiopia (Part 1)

We started out on Saturday the 16th. Linda and Gary took us to the Norfolk Airport, where we stood in a seriously long line. The whole time we're in line, I was watching the confusion going on at the counter. I felt that things were not going to go smoothly, but instead it was a piece of cake.

God slips in treats for His children ever so often, just to keep us moving. The airline's web site said that overweight charges would be $150 for anything between 51-75lbs. We had three huge tubs full of stuff donated by our church family and friends that were between 50 -75lbs. Plus we had our one check suitcase that we had at around 50lbs. The lady only charged us $150 total! So the extra money that was donated for excess baggage, we were able to donate to the orphanage.

We flew from Norfolk to DC and from DC to Ethiopia. We met quite a few families on their way to Ethiopia to adopt children, mostly babies and a few youngsters. The trip to Ethiopia was fairly forgettable (Which can be a good thing). I'd almost swear Ethiopian Airlines must hold beauty contests for their flight attendants. Amazing.

We arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday, midday. Going through customs and immigration in Addis Ababa was long and tedious, but fairly uneventful as well. We met a Church group from Montana that was coming into Ethiopia for a couple of weeks on a short term mission trip. They were really excited to get to work. We were met at the airport by an Interpreter/Driver from CWA, who took us to The Ethiopian Guest House.

We had a suite that took up the top floor of the guest house, it was a beautiful and welcomed sight for very tired eyes. Thankfully we arrived at the guest house right at bedtime, so our bodies didn't have to struggle to get to sleep. Of course because of the 7 hour time difference between the East Coast and Addis, that was the last night of restful sleep for either of us. The only negative of the room (I'm American I have to complain about something!) was the bed - hard as a stone.

But, sleep we did because we were going to meet our little ones in morning.

We're HOME!!

Well, here we are...Exhausted but elated none-the-less. Our "babies" are home in our arms. Justin, Zoe, and Davis. I'm going to make this brief and then the details will start coming in, in short quips as I have time.

Suffice it to say that the trip though short, made profound impacts on our lives. This was not only because of the three new lives joining us, but for the experiences we had in Ethiopia. The Lord had several divine appointments for us while we were there. We met some beautiful Christian people. We saw some heart wrending scenes. We took in some very interesting experiences. And again, our lives were changed because of all of it.

Ethiopia is full of beautiful people - both poor and rich, living basically side-by-side. We met many adoptive families in Ethiopia, that was heart lightening - even if there were 20 some crying babies on the plane ride home!

We got to experience the deep, deep love of a church family that does not hesitate to step in and do whatever is needed - Brenda, Linda, & Nancy - took care of our babies while we were gone. We will forever be indebted (a debt of love) to them. May the Lord pour out tremendous blessings on them.

Nancy kept up our blog for us while we were gone. She writes better than I do.

Much, much more to come.

Why the name changes?

We've been asked why do we choose to change our children's names. Adoptive parents have a choice to change or not change their children's names.

• When Pam and I bring our children home, changing their names gives us as parents that sense of primary parenthood because we named them. (That may sound shallow to some, but it's meaningful to us)
• We try to parallel the Lord's adoption of us. When we became Christians, we became new creatures with new lives, new cultures, and new languages to learn. Several times, He gave his newly adopted children new names (i.e. Abram/Abraham, Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul)
• Some of our children have fairly difficult names to pronounce (There are people who still screw up my name). We wanted to ease their problems in school. Try on Netsanet, Tseganesh, Bereket, Fujian, Meron, Efraim, and Tsegahun. A couple of them are not too difficult.
• We have retained their birth names in the legal names. Their birth names and family names will become their "middle names". So once they reach adulthood/college they can go by any name they choose.

Some adoptive parents change names, some don't. We know one family that has changed some of their children's names and not the others.

Life is Good!

Spring is here and summer is around the corner:

• I spent last Saturday at 3 different kids' soccer games.
• Our schedule calendar had only about 3 days with nothing on it for this month (No wait, that's just being a big family!)
• Yesterday, Pam went to watch the sunrise at the beach with a couple of her close friends (Imagine a beach chair, some hot coffee, warm sun, a cool morning breeze & good friends).
• Our dog, who normally hates the outdoors, (We sometimes call her Miss Princess) takes about 10 minutes to do her business now before she decides to come back in.
• The boys are wearing shorts and sandals to school.
• Kids at school are starting to get into more and more trouble (The girls are telling us about drug busts, bomb scares, fights- and these are "good" schools)
• I'm wearing shorts and sandals everyday now.
• We only have 3 weeks before we go to Ethiopia!!!

Thanks Giving

I posted this last Thanksgiving, and I think it's appropriate to re-post it because we are so thankful

Pam and I have more things to be thankful for than would fill this page, so I'll just hit a few things. We are thankful that we have God to give thanks to. He is not a concept, a theory or wishful thinking... He is GOD ALMIGHTY.

He is the creator and sustainer of all that was, is and is to come. He has given us all that we have, all that we need, and all that we ever imagined. He also hears our thanks giving.

We are thankful for our salvation. Without our salvation nothing else would even matter and there would be no reason to be thankful. We are thankful to God our Father and Jesus our Savior for the salvation of our Christian children.

We are thankful that God not only hears our prayers, but he invites us to pray to Him and then he answers our prayers. He doesn't always answer them in the way that we think that He should, but He answers them.

We are thankful for all 12 of our children. We are thankful for the 3-2-B ours. (3-Who-R ours, now). We thank Him for making it possible to eventually bring them home and for the blessings along the way to take away some of the financial burden. (Whohoo!! Yeah!!)

We are thankful for our Church Family, for our birth families and for each other. And...we are thankful for our blog readers. You all give us encouragement and strength. May God bless each of you with Love, Joy, Peace, and prosperity.May Jesus' name be praised.

Closer & Closer, Day-by-Day

Friday we received an e-mail from CWA telling us that the 3-2-B ours were being moved from their orphanage in Soddo to the foster home (Think group home) in Addis Ababa. Normally this wouldn't happen until right before the court date, but the orphanage needed more room. This will be good for the kids because it's quieter, smaller, and they get a little bit more adult attention there. This should help their psyche's as well because it will make them feel closer to leaving.

Prayer needs...Recently the State Department held a meeting with the adoption agencies working in Ethiopia and gave out some new guidelines (rules). One was that the Embassy appointment dates will be every other week instead of every week, so that will slow up the processes some. Please pray that the timing of our appointment won't be delayed too long.

Another change came from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). All children will be retested for diseases following their court appointments. The major concern was for HIV (of course)Hepatitis A, and TB. If a child tests positive for TB (even if it's non active/latent- a common occurrence), they will have to be treated in Ethiopia before they leave the country. This is a minimum 6 month treatment. Please pray that all 3 test negative again on everything.

We were planning on taking our oldest daughter to Ethiopia with us (built in interpreter), but we're having a problem getting her American passport. We hadn't re-adopted our last three children yet so we don't have an American birth certificate. Please pray that there's some other way to get this done.

Praises...

• We received a grant from an charitable foundation in CA (Thank you again to them).
• I have two job interviews this week. One in Norfolk VA, and one in Herndon VA (DC Metro area). The job in DC is a Federal job; that one I want more, for obvious reasons.
• Pam has a friend she's known for 30 some years, she and her husband are coming down from upper Pennsylvania to visit us for a week in April
• Pam has another friend she's known since high school, she and her husband are traveling from Oregon to DC for vacation in June and we might be able to go see them.

Well, I gotta get to church. PRAISE THE LORD!

It's Getting Close

It's March! April 8th (Our court date in Ethiopia) is right around the corner. Then May 12 (Embassy date) will be right around the corner from there. Pam and I are starting to make trip plans. One of the main things we are planning is taking things to the orphanage. Our adoption agency (CWA) gave us a wish list. Something to remember is that though it may cost us a little more to take it with us, Ethiopia is suffering through astronomical inflation. Last year it peaked at 67% and this past January it was down to 37%. Consider the fact that almost 80% of the population of Ethiopia lives below the poverty line ($2 per day); living hand to mouth is sometimes more than "all they can do to get by". EVERYTHING is costing them more and more to buy everyday, especially food! Inflation for us in the US in 2008 averaged less than 4%!!

We are going to take some of those large plastic tubs/containers and carry as much as we can with us. We need your help in supplying these things. We'll also need to have donations to help pay for the excess baggage cost, as well. Below is an abbreviate list, of things that are important and can fit in those containers:

Anti-fungal cream
Anti-biotic cream
Disposable latex gloves
Hand sanitizer
Liquid vitamins with iron and/or anti-worming agent
Baby formula (powdered)
Baby toiletries (baby powder, soap, diaper rash ointment, lotion, etc)
Baby wipes
Plastic baby bottles
Bottle brushes
Children underwear (either sex, all sizes)
Toothbrushes & toothpaste (children and adult staff)
Toiletries for the nannies and staff
Children's Christian DVDs (teaches English & ministers to them as well)
Zip Lock bags (from sandwich size to extremely large)
Vegetable seeds for their gardens
Twin bed sheets & pillow cases
Coloring books & Crayons
Note books
Jump ropes
Puzzles
Small sturdy toys
Small kitchen utensils (vegetable peelers, small knives, serving spoons, dish cloths)

Along that same vein, Pam and I are still trying to raise funds for our adoption and trip. Right now we're about $5000 short. Since I lost my job, it's going to be even harder. If you want to help, you can give by using the Donate button on the right side of our blog. We are also going to need a few things for when we come back with the 3-2-B ours (Who will soon be 3-Who-R ours).

We don't know what sizes they are right now, just small.
Boys Jeans & T-Shirts (size 5-14)
Girls clothes (size 5-10)


Remember if you want to donate directly to CWA for Food4kids or any of their other projects, go to www.cwa.org.

Feel free to ask us for more information.
Blessings
Juan

The Joys of Parenthood

Pam and I are part of a "Home group" that meets weekly for Bible study and fellowship. We're a small group of 5 couples, all married and all have children at various stages in life. As part of our study we are currently watching a video series that is covering 1Thessalonians. Last night's topic of discussion was mentoring young Christians (young, meaning new to the faith). God asks us through Paul to mentor new Christians to help guide them in the early stages of Christian life. This helps them to recognize pitfalls and detours that they may not have been able to readily recognize on their own. It also helps them to learn to become mature, wise, strong, and to find their purpose in this life. We can also be there for when (not if) they need help with anything - spiritual or just to help with everyday life.

When you look at the examples of mentoring in the Bible, it readily loans itself to being like parenthood. Because all of these things are needed for our children as they go and grow through the early stages of life. And our goal is to help them to become mature, wise, strong and purposeful. With mentoring our children, we not only get to help shape their little lives now, but their futures. A wise and strong child will make different decisions than a hapless child left to live life without a rudder. And some of those decisions have monumental and eternal consequences. It saddens me when I hear parents say, "Oh, I'm going to let my child make up his own mind about God and the Bible when he/she gets old enough." I think about all the decisions that child will make between now and then...and then after.

God brought our 2nd youngest son, "D" to us from China. From the first day, he has seen his parents living the life of Christian people. We live, we grow, we laugh, we cry, we fall, we soar. And in all things we give glory to God and our Savior Jesus Christ. We faithfully attend church family gathering, we participate, we faithfully give of ourselves and our finances. We talk about our faith openly with our children and we try to share it with our friends and family. We pray together as a family regularly. We connect life lessons with God's word in hopes of watching their lives soak this all in. Then one night, after nighttime prayers, "D" turns to me and says, "Dad, how do I become a Christian?" Absolutely nothing else in life makes me happier than hearing words to that affect coming from my own children. We prayed together that night and I baptised him in the Sound some weeks later.

Mentoring a young Christian is challenging and time consuming. Mentoring your children is challenging and time consuming. The joy of watching the fruit...PRICELESS.